Sonic Colors is for kids, Sonic 4 is for grown-ups

While several among us are looking forward to Sonic Colors even more than Sonic the Hedgehog 4, it appears we may be doing it wrong. Sega has confirmed that Sonic Colors is not intended for old school fans of the spiky blue whore, warning us ahead of time that it’s aimed to 7-12 year-olds, while Sonic 4 is the game for older fans. 

“We’ve got to make games that appeal to the 7-to-12-year-old which is exactly what Colours will do,” says Western president Mike Hayes, “and then we need to appeal to the core gamer, which is what Sonic 4 is doing.”

It really does seem that Sega wants Sonic to be two brands now — one that continues the kid-friendly, quality-eschewing tradition of recent Sonic games, and one that appeals to retro gamers. With Sega promising “franchise changing” news concerning Sonic on Thursday, I want to make my prediction now that Sonic will be officially split in twain. I could be wrong, but that’s my guess. 

In any case, Sonic Colors still looks pretty cool. Maybe I can just claim I’m buying it for my kid?

Sega’s Mike Hayes [CVG via GoNintendo]